Ethereal Savior
by Mintosaurus C
Summary: Before Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, he is ambushed by death eaters and killed. Unfortunately, or fortunately to some people, he returns. As a ghost. Sad, Major Character Death. Violence and minor gore.
1. Chapter 1

_"Kill the spare!"_ and then a bright green light. Harry woke up, with a scream. "CEDRIC!" Immediately he realized that it was just another nightmare. He looked over to the clock on his wall. It read 5:44 AM. Harry sighed and tried to go back to sleep. But after what felt like hours, sleep did not come, and he decided to just stay up. But he didn't want to just sit down, he wanted to do something to keep his mind off of the Third task. He got some clothes on, and decided to take a walk. Yeah, he knew he probably shouldn't, what with Voldemort and his Death munchers out and about. But he needed fresh air, and staying cooped up in his room was not a very appealing choice.

Harry sneaked downstairs, trying his best not to wake the Dursleys. He walked outside, into the cool air. He looked into the dark blue sky. It was still dark out, but just starting to lighten up. The air smelled like rain. 'Hm. I guess this walk is gonna be short. Better get back before it starts pouring.' Harry walked down the sidewalk, looking at all of the completely ordinary houses. After about half an hour, he decided that he should walk back. He had started walking into a more secluded, grassy part of the area.

Suddenly, he heard a crack. Four death eaters apparated out of nowhere. He couldn't tell who they were, as they were dressed in pure black robes, with silver masks hiding their faces.

"Surrender Potter," The voice of Lucius Malfoy said. "We're supposed to take you alive, but Lord Voldemort didn't say we couldn't hurt you!"

Immediately, terror descended on Harry Potter. He hadn't taken his wand from the Dursley house! He scolded himself mentally, before wracking his mind for a plan. Seconds later, Harry started to raise his hands. There was only a small chance of pulling this off. If he failed, he would most likely be brutally tortured then brought to Voldemort.

Harry kept slowly raising his hands, but he suddenly said "Accio wand!", pointing at Lucius Malfoy. Harry had only just begun training in wandless magic, and when it worked, he was ecstatic. But that wouldn't last if he was killed. Malfoy's wand flew towards Harry, and he grabbed it.

"POTTER!" yelled an angry Lucius. Harry quickly dodged the three crucio curses sent towards him, and ducked into a bush. He and the other Death eaters began exchanging curses, and although Harry was fighting well, he didn't notice Malfoy sneaking up behind him.

All of a sudden, the older Malfoy punched Harry in the back of the head. "You filthy half-breed scum!" Malfoy kept beating and beating Harry, that even some of the Death Eaters looked at Malfoy in horror. Not that anyone could tell, what with their masks. Eventually, Malfoy let go, and took in the sight of a bruised, bloodied, and dying Harry. In pure rage, Malfoy resumed beating Harry, until the poor boy was barely breathing.

Malfoy suddenly realized that he had done the exact opposite of what his Lord wanted. _"Bring me the boy, Lucius, alive! If he dies or you return without him, you will wish you never existed!" _Lucius, now absolutely terrified, apparated away. The other Death eaters, who were stunned at Malfoy's brutality, also apparated away, to either never return to Voldemort, or beg forgiveness. After all, Malfoy was the one who lead this mission. It was his fault that Potter died.

As the Death eaters fled the scene, dying Harry Potter stared into the dark sky.

When he woke up, he felt great. He didn't feel like a cerberus chewed him up. He saw nothing but white. He stood up, looking at his pristine white clothes. Then he heard something he thought he'd never hear.

_"Sweetheart." _it sounded vaguely familiar. He looked to the source of the voice, to see a lady with beautiful, fiery red hair. _'Mum.'_

She held her arm out for him, and he ran to her, crying. "Mum, it's you. Am-Am I dead?" Suddenly, he noticed a man. A man that looked like a mirror image of himself, but older, with hazel eyes. "Dad!" The three came together for a reunion hug.

"We're so proud of you Harry. So proud." His mother said, smiling, tears falling down her face.

"But you shouldn't be here. You should've had your own life, not just a rotten childhood." James stated, melancholy from his son's death. Harry couldn't help but smile. He was finally here with his parents. The two that had sacrificed themselves for him when he was just a baby.

Then, a sound was heard. "What's that? Harry asked.

"I... I don't know, Harry." Lily responded.

**"Harry James Potter. You are dead." **a voice erupted from out of nowhere.

"Yes, I know." Harry replied.

**"You are not supposed to be dead. You still have business on Earth that can not be finished by any else."**

Harry knew what the voice was saying. "You want me to kill Voldemort. But how? I'm dead!" Harry questioned.

**"You will return. But once a human dies, they can not return as human. So you will instead return as a spirit."**

"A-A ghost? But, wait please, can't I at least have some time with my parents? I just met them-"

**"Every second Voldemort is alive, innocent wizards, witches, and muggles are in danger. You will return. Now."**

The voice boomed, and suddenly Harry felt something terribly unpleasant. He could hear his parents yelling, but he couldn't discern what they were saying. Sound and sight faded, and everything was silent and pitch black.

Harry woke up. The first thing he noticed was _the cold._ At first, he thought he rolled out of the thin blanket he had on in bed. But he realized then, he wasn't in a bed. He didn't feel it- in fact, he didn't feel anything, besides the merciless cold. He made to stood up, but learned that he was already standing.

Or... floating? "Okay, what is happening?" He gasped when he heard his voice. It sounded mostly normal, but slightly distorted. "What in Merlin's name is going on-" and then the memories hit him. _Like a sack of bricks._ He remembered it all, going for a walk, getting ambushed by death eaters, being killed by Lucius Malfoy, and then meeting up in what he could only assume was heaven, and then a loud voice told him to return. Then this. He looked at his hand, but it was transparent, and had a slight blue tint to it. He was dressed in the clothes he had on before he was killed, but they were in perfect order. No blood, no tears.

"I have to go to Dumbledore. But how?" Harry thought and thought about it, but he couldn't think of a way, besides slowly floating there. He couldn't possibly call the Knight bus... Could he somehow teleport there? He once heard that ghosts could actually teleport to different places by thinking about where they wanted to go. Doubting this would work, Harry shut his eyes, and focused. "Dumbledore's office..."

All of a sudden, he felt weird. When the feeling passed, and he opened his eyes, he was met with Dumbledore's office. ...Right in the middle of Dumbledore's desk. He saw that Dumbledore was actually sitting in his desk, with a chair sitting in the front. In that chair, sat Cornelius Fudge.

"Hello there, Minister. Professor Dumbledore."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello there, Minister. Professor Dumbledore."

Albus (Percival Wulfric Brian) Dumbledore had sat there, with his mouth gaping open. The legendary twinkle in his eye was gone. Within 5 seconds Dumbledore had his mental shields torn down, absolutely _shocked_ by this. After almost a minute, Dumbledore stood up, and his eyes starting getting wet. "Harry, my boy, what... what has happened to you? Was it... Was it Voldemort?" Dumbledore choked out, trying to hold back tears.

The boy he saw grow up, from a shy 11 year old to a kind, brave teenager. Dead. 'How did this happen?' Dumbledore asked himself. He didn't have to wait long for the answer. Harry floated over to a chair, before falling through it, and floating back up.

"I... I wanted to take a walk. And-And I was ambushed by Death Eaters... Lucius Malfoy, and some others I couldn't identify. I tried to escape, but while I was fighting them, Malfoy snuck up behind me and he just... lost control." Harry finished, with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Lost control? How?" Dumbledore asked. Harry looked back up to him with haunted eyes.

"He just... kept beating me, and beating me. Eventually, he stopped and just left. I-I couldn't do anything, besides just lay down, soaking in my own blood." Harry recounted, sounding like he was about to shed tears himself.

"And now you're a ghost. What happened after... after you passed?" Dumbledore questioned.

"I woke up in a totally different place. My parents were there. We had barely any time to talk before this loud voice told me that I still had business here. And then I just woke up." Harry said, before continuing. "I woke up as a ghost. And it's really cold. And I-" Suddenly Harry remembered he wasn't alone.

Dumbledore noticed how Harry looked uncomfortable. "Erm, perhaps you should leave for now, Cornelius? We will meet again and finish talking at another time." Fudge slowly nodded, with pale skin and wide open eyes. He stood and quickly made to leave, before Dumbledore halted him. "Cornelius, don't say anything about Harry's... problem." Cornelius looked again at Harry, and nodded quickly, then left.

"Harry, my boy, I am so sorry this has happened." Dumbledore was going to say more, but Harry stopped him.

"It's my fault, I wanted to take a walk. If I had just stayed at the Dursley's house, this wouldn't have happened." Suddenly, a thought hit Harry.

"W-What about my friends? Sirius? Lupin? The Weasleys? The Professors? How are they going to react? How is the _Wizarding world _going to react when they learn that the 'Boy-Who-Lived' is now the Boy-Who-Died-and-Became-A-Ghost?!" Harry began to panic.

"Calm down my boy, I am sure that... your friends and family will see you as you." Dumbledore tried to comfort Harry.

"Not when all they can think about when they see me is that I DIED!" Harry said angrily.

Dumbledore wished so hard that ghosts could drink calming potions. "No, Harry, they won't do that to you. They might be shocked and sad at first, but when they realize you're not really gone they'll still be your friends."

Harry began to calm down. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry Professor, this is just so..." Harry didn't know what to say.

"It's okay Harry. I understand this is new and scary to you. But, on the bright side, you can still go back, after defeating Voldemort."

"How? I don't think I could defeat Voldemort, I can't hold my wand, and I don't think ghosts can do much magic." Harry looked hopeless.

"Maybe not defeat in the conventional way, but I'm sure there are others ways you can defeat, or at least assist in defeating Voldemort." Dumbledore assured. "But, unfortunately Harry, the Order must know about... you. I'm going to set up a meeting for the Order. Go to Grimmauld Place, Harry. But make sure not to let yourself appear until I ask you to. I don't want anyone to panic before I get the chance to explain." Dumbledore finished.

Harry agreed, nodding with the same solemn look on his face. Dumbledore sighed, before standing up. "I'm going to send messages to the Order members for a meeting. Harry, please try to relax while I am away." Dumbledore said, before leaving the room. Harry just floated there for a minute, before deciding to hide somewhere in Dumbledore's office, so that he wouldn't be accidentally found. Harry didn't even know if he could sleep. So he just shut his eyes, and tried to will himself to sleep.

**_Timeskip_**

Harry woke up from his sleep. Or, more like deep relaxation. He was still conscious while 'sleeping', but only slightly. He didn't think, all he could sense were quiet, distant sounds, like boiling of some sort of potion. ...Wait, what? Harry's eyes shot open. It seems like he had somehow teleported to the dungeons, in Snape's quarters to be exact. Speaking of the greasy-haired devil, the dark-clothed man was staring at him in shock, his already pale skin now akin to a sheet of blank paper. "P-Potter?!" Snape sputtered, before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

He would have been laughing up storm if it weren't for his predicament. Harry looked around, making sure nobody else was in there, before he teleported back to Dumbledore's office. Or at least, he tried to. Right before he could, he heard a door outside open. Harry started panicking, and kept trying to teleport. But he just couldn't focus on it, as loud footsteps could be heard.

"Come on, Potter, think of something." Harry wracked his mind for something to help him, before he remembered something. He simply floated up into the ceiling. The door opened, and in came Professor McGonagall. Harry watched them, with his head peaking in. "Severus, I need you to- SEVERUS!" The elderly woman yelled in fear. She inspected him for a moment, and then went to the fireplace. "Poppy! Severus is unconscious, I don't know how, please get down here!" Harry decided he heard enough. He floated all the way back up to Dumbledore's office, making sure that nobody spotted him.

Harry had just begun to relax again when he heard the passage to Dumbledore's office open up. He heard two voices. Two, very familiar voices.

"Honestly Ronald, Harry's fine where he is. I dislike the Dursleys as much as you, but at least there he's safe. And that's what matters. Besides, I..." Hermione and Ron were walking towards Dumbledore's desk, talking, when Hermione stopped. She was staring... at Harry. Harry immediately floated into a wall. But he wasn't fast enough.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, wishing what she saw wasn't real. "Harry, please come out." Harry reluctantly floated out, his head held low. Ron's mouth dropped, and Hermione looked like she was about to start crying.

"What... What happened, Harry?" Hermione barely managed to say. Harry gulped before responding.

"I was... ambushed by Death Eaters... Lucius Malfoy. He... He kept hitting me, and wouldn't stop. By the time he left, I couldn't... I couldn't." Harry stopped, letting a sob tear through him. Ron just stood there, and Hermione at this point was crying. She ran over to Harry, and tried to hug him, but she couldn't. Both just stayed there.

"Harry, you're dead? Why, why does everything bad have to happen to you! Your parents died, your family mistreats you, everyone shunned and bullied you last year and now you're..." Hermione tried her best to stop crying. Ron slowly walked up to her and hugged her, hard.

By the time Dumbledore returned, he found all three asleep. With Ron and Hermione in each others' arms.


End file.
